Armenian specialists for new order of out-patient care

YEREVAN, September 14. /ARKA/. Armenian specialists welcome the new order of out-patient care of Armenian citizens, which allows citizens to choose doctors. Head of the Medical Aid Organizations Department, RA Ministry of Health, Vahan Poghosyan reported that the new system will enhance the efficiency of doctors’ work.

“The level of doctors’ work will certainly be raised as medical specialists will be interested in attracting clients. It is on the number of patients using individual doctors’ services that doctors’ salary will depend,” he said. Poghosyan said that AMD 5,000 ($14.7) are annually transferred from the state budget for one patient using the services of the medical institution.

In her turn, Gayane Gharagebakyan, Head of the Public Health Reforms and Registration Team, USAID Primary Healthcare Program, pointed out the importance of the system.

The innovations will contribute to the development of Armenia’s healthcare system, she said. She pointed out that Armenia’s citizens can choose not only doctors, but also, from October 1, 2007, a medical establishment.
Gharagebakyan thinks that some visitors to out-patient clinics will continue preferring the doctors that have been treating them until now, as they have all the information of their patients.

In April 2007, a system allowing citizens to choose doctors, as well as a new order of registration, was introduced in Armenia. The process is to be completed this October-November.–0--